The decision making process is never easy. No matter how many tricks you have up your sleeve, you're bound to lose a little sleep over the big decisions. If you're really struggling, here are a few ways to make the process a little easier on yourself as you work through all the possibilities.

Big decisions cause serious stress in your life. Buying a house, getting married, getting divorced, moving across the country, quitting your job, or just deciding what movie to see, can all drain our willpower. Thankfully, you can run through certain exercises that help you through the decision making process. I recently decided on a cross country move. These tips helped me make the choice of where and when I wanted to go.

The reasoning here is really simple: your short-term emotions get in the way of decisions, and that clouds your judgment. It's hard to break free of your emotions, but it helps to know they affect your choices.

This only works in certain circumstances. Pretending to give advice to a friend about the cheapest moving truck doesn't make sense, but advice on where to move does. This was one of the most helpful ideas for me as I tried to pick where the heck I wanted to go next. I went with an imaginary friend with a similar disposition to me and tried to think of how I'd approach a conversation with them. I pictured the type of questions I'd ask, thought about the various risks I might mention, and even came up with a few things to research about different locations.

It certainly takes a bit of mental gymnastics, but it's worth it to at least try. You can always seek out advice from a friend as well, but this way you can do so on the fly without the need for a long phone call.

Limit the Amount of Information You Take In

It's a pretty common idea that the more information you have, the better decisions you can make. However, at some point, you cross a threshold where you have too much information. It's one of those dumb tricks our brains pull on us that's hard to counteract.

The human mind hates uncertainty. Uncertainty implies volatility, randomness, and danger. When we notice information is missing, our brain raises a metaphorical red flag and says, "Pay attention. This could be important..." When data is missing, we overestimate its value. Our mind assumes that since we are expending resources locating information, it must be useful.

This information comes in all forms. It might be that you've done so much research about a topic that you've passed the point of "educated decision" and moved onto too much information. Or it might be that you've sought out the advice of several friends, all of whom have given you different opinions. Regardless, when you have too much information on the table, you're making the decision process way more difficult.

In my own case, I certainly reached that point of information overload where I had too many facts and opinions in front of me. Cutting some of that out helped. Instead of talking with a bunch of friends I kept it to just a few whom I trust.

The other big realization I had with both bigger and smaller choices was that my decision was always reversible. With a lot of our decisions, we put more weight on them than they're worth. Yes, moving across the country to a new place is a big deal, but it's also totally reversible. If it sucks, you move again. Likewise, with most smaller decisions, setting up a two minute rule to make the choice gets it out of the way so we can move on. Most decisions we make don't matter as much as we think they do, and recognizing that helps keep the amount of information you take in to a minimum.

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The suggestion here is simple: if you're making a decision between a few different options, throw in a new option that is essentially the exact opposite of what you'd normally do. Now, imagine yourself as if you'd already made that choice and you're living with that decision. For something like moving, it was about tossing in an extra couple places I had no desire to move to. Then, when I weighed my choices, I had a few options I'd never even considered. This forced my brain to challenge my assumptions about what mattered about the city I chose, what I was really looking for, and what details really mattered.

It might sound like you're just going to confuse yourself by adding in options that don't matter, but in certain cases—especially something like a move or even a career change—it's about thinking outside your comfort zone in order to make a better decision. If you need some help with that mental backflip, Psychology Today suggests asking yourself a few simple questions:

List all your assumptions about your subject.

Reverse each assumption. What is its opposite?

Ask yourself how to accomplish each reversal.

The end result is a new viewpoint you might not have considered otherwise. You still might not go with that choice, but it can help you decide what you really want in a decision.

Spreadsheet It Out

A lot of people love to make charts, and if that sounds like you, then you know a spreadsheet is one of the best ways to help make a better decision. A simple spreadsheet filled with pros, cons, qualities, rankings, and more can help give you the big picture of a decision. This helped me figure out both where to move to and the more granular details like picking a moving truck company.

The good news is that you don't have to really geek it up with spreadsheet skills. This spreadsheet provides a template for all kinds of decisions and has a ranking system so you can easily fill in everything you want. Likewise, if it's a shopping choice, this spreadsheet will help make your choice easier.

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You can make a spreadsheet as simple or as complicated as you like. I needed a two-column pros and cons list for the move, with each city getting its own set of columns. If you want to really up your game, you can create incredibly complicated spreadsheets for all kinds of decisions. Find what works for you with the eventual goal of showing yourself a clear look at all the various facets of your decisions in one place.

Everyone's idea of what constitutes a big decision and what doesn't is different, but walking yourself through the above exercises is a way to get to a point where you're more confident in your choice. For me, it was about exhausting enough options that I felt like I was educated, but not overwhelmed. It doesn't matter how you do it, decisions tax your brain and your willpower, but hopefully you can make it a bit easier on yourself so you won't regret too much in the end.